1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to physical culture and sports, medicine, cosmonautics and can be used both for health-improving and therapeutic massage as well as for treatment of various diseases.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,355 teaches a known method of pneumatic massage using shells and a harmonic progressing wave. This method provides an action of only a transverse mechanical wave propagating along a straight line, which does not agree with most of massage techniques performed by way of a curved path conditioned by, for example, blood and lymph flow of the massaged body part.
U.S.S.R. Inventor's Certificate 1795889 teaches a therapeutic massage using a progressing wave. This device produces only transverse mechanical waves propagating along a straight line on a limited number of anatomico-topographic body parts. Absence of heat waves, light waves, rarefaction waves, impulse displacement of pseudoboiling layer modules does not allow to effectively influence the lymph and blood flow. The known device cannot produce a modulated wave which is an important feature of a solitary wave due to use of modules of drivers to rotate discs. Starting, operation of the driver with the purpose to create chaotic motion of balls and shutdown of engines requires a significant amount of time, i.e. the process of a boiling layer production is inertial. In the “running wave” mode modules switch off for 5–10 sec, which corresponds to the wave propagation speed commensurable with a lymph flow velocity.
PCT International Publication WO/67693 teaches a method of massage that realizes only a mechanical progressing wave along the body in a lying position. To produce waves, four vibrators are used which are not positioned on one biomechanical unit, i.e. the wave length is significantly more than 0.1 m. Heat and light waves are absent. Mechanical impulse modulation parameters are the same for all vibration sources. Absence of a controlled connection between the vibratodes and large wave length do not allow a circular massage ensuring a body part clasping with force both stimulating blood flow and completely stopping it for a short period of time. Carrier frequency with this method does not correspond to the biomechanical resonance (5–20 Hz) and consequently cannot influence directly the blood flow in muscles.
FRG Patent Reference 39 05 517 C1 teaches a dampening, heating, vibrating, electrifying and freshening massage ball roller that does not ensure combinative effect of all acting factors, i.e. sequence of effects of heat, vibration and lighting with various time intervals. The known device uses a vibration drive that like all electric drives has a long response time and on-off time ratio equals to 2. Thus there is no possibility to program each mechanical impulse and to perform modulation of mechanical impulses in body reception mode. The device does not allow performing a circular massage, to synchronize phases of mechanical, heat and light impulses.
U.S.S.R. Inventor's Certificate 604211 teaches a method of wave therapy using cylindrical shells placed parallel to each other and pressed to a human body. Wave-like displacement of surface due to alternate shells filling and blowing-off provides for massage at a plane harmonic progressing wave synchronized with a pulse wave speed in extremities.
Lack of shear thrusts in this massage method precludes a stroking technique required to regulate musculocutaneous tonus in the process of treatment. The wave-like displacement with action modes are the same for all body parts and produces a harmonic progressing wave in relation to which a fast body adaptation takes place decreasing activity of the neuromuscular system, aimed at body rehabilitation while mechanical impulses are acting. This leads to a short duration of the treatment procedure (15–30 min) and the only controlled parameter changing for which it is possible to avoid adaptation is the wave speed. Thus there is no possibility to control treatment mode in a wide range. Another drawback of this known method is the impossibility to act with a wave on vibroreceptors and wave biomechanical processes in myofibrils. Also, this known method does not realize vacuumization waves, i.e. the waves with pressure less than 1.01·105 Pa.